We just returned from a two-and-a-half week vacation through ten national parks/monuments - and went without internet for a good portion of the time! I had hoped to keep up on the blog a little better, however it was good, in many ways, to be disconnected because it connected me more to my family and to the experience at hand. I think it was just the respite I needed.
And now to jump back into things, I thought I'd share a few highlights of that amazing experience with you!
Today I'm sharing the first five parks: Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons, Dinosaur National Monument, Arches National Park and Canyonland National Park. On Wednesday, I'll be posting the climax of our vacation and then on Thursday, I'll conclude with the last four parks. I hope you'll stop in to see some amazing destinations!
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Yellowstone National Park
Our first destination was (naming the parks and monuments) Yellowstone National Park. We've been there several times before, given our close proximity, yet it was new to our second youngest child and will require another visit for our youngest.
Grand Tetons
We then made our way to the Grand Tetons, another destination we've been to and love. Here we took our first family bike ride together and found some fun things to do in the town of Jackson.
We then met up with Rob's parents in Utah and made our way to Dinosaur National Monument. I think the best part about this destination was handing our eight-year-old son our point and shoot camera. That completely heightened the experience for him!
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| a "log jam" of dinosaur bones |
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| A picture Robby took and edited! |
Arches National Park
We then drove to Moab, Utah and visited Arches National Park one day...
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| Landscape Arch (largest arch in the world...longer than a football field) |
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| Sand dune Arch |
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| Delicate Arch (the arch on the Utah license plate) |
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| Shot taken in two different exposures |
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| Balanced Rock (Oh, and Madeline's highlight of the trip? Getting out of the backpack!)    |
then we headed out on a date, while grandma and grandpa watched the kiddos that evening...
Canyonland National Park
and on to Canyonland National Park the next day. This was our first true high light of the trip with the following arch catching our breath, with an unexpected 500 foot drop right through the arch and then cutting down another 700 feet after the drop. No warning. No barriers. I'm still a little squeamish thinking about the youngest two of my children (two and three) leading the way at the beginning of the half mile trail. (to read the post inspired by this incident, click here.)
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| Mesa Arch |
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| Children with Grandma |
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| View through the arch |
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| View over the arch |
And our older three children's highlight - climbing Whale Rock.
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| Our family plus grandpa |
By the way, it's good to be home.
To see Part 2, click here.
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Sharing with Finding Heaven, The Better Mom, The Wellspring, Graceful, A Pause on the Path, and Raising Arrows
Lovely scenery photographs, sounds like a fab vacation. Nice to see parts of the world through your blog that I have not seen yet living in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteah, you've lived our dream!
ReplyDeletewe have a box on top of our piano marked "God's Wonders Trip Fund" for exactly such a trip as you have described. we're at $42.91 right now . . . but we'll get there someday. :)
what a world He has made!